Writing guide for the blind



Nov. 21, 1950 R. A. MARKS WRITING GUIDE FOR THE BLIND Filed March 1, 1948 ATTORNEY HIS Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PAT ENT OFFICE WRIT-INGGUI-DE FGR. THE BLIND RobertA. Marks, Queens Village, N'. Y.

Application March; 1, 1948,, Serial.;N0.. 1%;443

1 Claim. 11

This invention relates. to a Writing: guide: designed toaid. the blind. in. their effortsv to write, and has reference particularly to a-.device;of this character, in which the writers pen or pencil may be: guided across. the paper during formation of letters or numbers, and then by simple adjustment the guide may be moved to a positionparallel to and above or below the completed line of writing so that, as the same is continued, each line will be parallel to and quite apart from the succeedingline'. In other words the present invention contemplates a simple device whereby a. blind person. may compose a letter or. other manuscriptby hand. with substantially the same ease and. results as enjoyed by; those fortunate enough to-be able. to, use their eyes to guide their writing;

The invention has for its: principal object, to provide a writing guide to be superimposed upon and adjustable over a sheet of paper or other writing material, which guide affords a straight edge projecting across the paper and against which the writer may contact his pen or pencil in the formation of letters or numbers in order to dispose them along a straight line.

The invention has for its further object to provide means whereby by a very simple manipulation on the part of the writer, the straight edge is adjustable to uniformly spaced positions along the side of the paper so as to insure writing space which is clear of the preceding space and parallel thereto.

I accomplish the objects of my invention by means of two embodiments thereof illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawings and describe and set forth in the following specification and claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a supporting member for a sheet of paper, which member is equipped with my improved writing guide with adjustment features:

Figure 2 is a substantially sectional view of the adjustment feature for the writing straight edge or guide; and

Figure 3 is a top plan elevational view of a modification of my invention wherein the writ ing guides or straight edges are permanently fixed elements superimposed over the paper sheet to receive the writing.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly to Figures 1 and 2, Ill, denotes a flat backing or board, which is preferably of wood and which is adapted to support upon its flat surface a sheet of writing paper II. The paper II is held in writing position by means of a clamp fitting l2 carried at the top of the board Ill and. consisting of a hinged pair of jaws i3 one thereof being. fixed to the surface of, the board and the other being yieldahly. pressed. onto the paper resting upon. the first jaw, asshown in Figure 1.. Pins l4. disposed upright on the fixed under. jaw pierce. the paper when the jaws are closed and project into. openings. l5. in the; upper jaw, the pins being for the purpose of prevent.- ing the paper from moving about between the jaws and thereby interfering with the proper spacing alinement of the lines. of writing.

Guideways or tracks. Hi are arranged. on opposite side edges. of the board It and consist of fiat. straight strips of metal having spaceddepending flanged pegs I? on their under surfaces, Which pegs. enter and are centeredin correspondingly spaced recesses Iain. the board. The flanges I9 of each pegare spacing piecesto. hold the tracks [6 above the surface of the board, see Figure 2. The upper surfaces of the tracks it are provided with uniformly spaced recesses 20 and slidably disposed on each track is a slide 2|. The slide 2| on one side carries an arm or straight edge 22 consisting of a flat writing frame portion 23 projecting transversely of the boardand paper I towards and just short of the track 16 at the opposite side.

Adjustment of the slide 2| and straight edge 22 is effected by means of thimble 24 disposed upright on the raised portion of the straight edge 22 and directly over the slide 2| and track IS, the thimble 2 being used as a grip and having disposed therein a spring plunger 25, which projects through the slide 2| at its lower end to seat in any one of the series of the spaced recesses 29. The upper end of the plunger 25 is provided with a knob 26 which is lifted against the spring 21 to free the plunger from the recess 20 into which it was seated. The slide 2| and guide or straight edge 22 may then be moved along the track It to the next position where the plunger is released to seat in a succeeding recess 20. In orderto indicate to the Writer the next position of the slide and guide the slide on the other track is also provided with a plunger 25 spring 21' of structure similar to that of 25 and 2'! respectively, but in this instance the slide itself carries the thimble which is provided with a pointer 28 projecting towards and over the center of the free end of the frame 23, as illustrated in'Figure 1.

In operation the writer inserts the paper II beneath the track H5 at the right, which track is fixed to the board I8 by means of screws 29, and at its upper end between the jaws [3. The track l6 at the left is then set in a position over the side edge of the paper and the slide 2i adjusted to the uppermost end of the track where the plunger 25 seats in the first recess 20. The other slide 2| with the thimble is also moved to the uppermost position or to the next lower position to guide the writer in making his next move of the frame. The writer thereafter begins his writing operations by framing the letters and numbers between the longitudinal side portions of the frame 23 and as the pencil or pen point contacts the closed end of the frame 23 the writer knows a line is complete and adjusts the frame to the next lower position. This is continued until the lowermost position indicates that the sheet has been filled. The result will be a sheet upon which the lines of writing will be neatly arranged in separate spaces and without being run together as would otherwise be the case were no guide provided.

The modification of the invention exemplified in Figure 3 consists of the writing board 30, spaced side guide strips 3| provided with uniformly spaced openings 32 between which guide wires 33 are stretched to form the straight edges, similar to that of the frame 23 in the previously described form of the invention. The sheet of paper it in Figure 3 is simply inserted between the wire sides of the guide strips SI and underneath the wires 33. The writer in constructing with his writing simply follows along between the wires from side to side until the page is filled. The result is the same as in the other form of the invention in that the guide wires 33 prevent the letters being formed from running beyond the spaces between adjacent wire and overlapping lines of writing.

Having described my invention and the manner in which the same operates, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A writing aid for the blind, comprising a rigid board to receive a sheet of paper, flat side tracks having spaced depressions in their top surfaces mounted along opposite sides of the board, said tracks being provided with supporting means whereby the tracks are spaced from and above the top surface of the board, a slide loosely embracing each track about its top, side, and under surfaces, a transversely disposed writing guide frame supported by and carried at one end on one of said slides and provided with a writing space arranged in a depressed portion resting directly upon the paper sheet to confine a writing instrument in the hand of a sightless person along the space in the writing guide frame, a slidable pointer for the other slide, and separate spring plunger thumb knobs carried by the attached end of the writing guide and the pointer respectively, to project into said depressions for the purpose of releasably fixing the position of the writing guide frame at any position along said side tracks, said writing guide and pointer being stepped along said slides in accordance with the spacing of the depressions.

ROBERT A. MARKS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 547,800 Nord Oct. 15, 1895 553,504 Bennet Jan. 28, 1896 760,211 Jones May 1'7, 1904 822,192 Dana May- 29, 1906 1,282,030 Benemelis Oct. 22, 1918 1,372,360 McNeill- Mar. 22, 1921 

